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R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

The second volume of Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise, ends the month the same way it began: at the top of the Amazon comics chart. It swapped places with last weeks #1, the latest Walking Dead collection, while the fourth Dork Diaries volume remains sandwiched between them.

There are a lot of new entries on the chart this week, led by a surprising top ten debut of Vertigo's Get Jiro!, no doubt due to the involvement of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Other debuts include the third and final volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century; Brandon Graham's King City collection; Harvey Pekar's Cleveland; and the first collection of Brubaker & Phillips' Lovecraftian noir comic Fatale.

Dead Watch: Just seven Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, down three from last week.

Bat Watch: Ten Batman titles on the chart this week, same as last. Batman: Earth One climbs up the chart but not quite enough to reach the top ten. It comes out in a couple of weeks, right before the release of the movie, so I expect that convergence will push it up closer to the top...

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Commentary:

No surprise at this week's new #1 book, as the latest Walking Dead collection is released. It currently sits at #46 on the overall Amazon books chart.

Only one new title on the chart this week: Big Nate Fun Blaster (which appears to be part comics & part activitities) slips in at #48.

Dead Watch: Ten Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, up from six last week. The new collection shows some modest coattails, though not at all what the season finale of the television show accomplished earlier in the year.

Bat Watch: Ten Batman titles on the chart this week, with just four weeks to go until The Dark Knight Rises...

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Commentary:

Jeffrey Brown's Darth Vader and Son remains at the top of the list for the second week in a row, a week which saw very little change at the top of the chart. The top five are exactly the same as last week, and nine of the top ten were in the top ten last week.

A huge surge in Kindle editions this week as Amazon makes color graphic novels available on the Kindle app on Android and iOS. Such color graphic novels are almost exclusively from DC, which gives them a big boost on the chart.

Only three non-Kindle books are new this week: The first New 52 Detective Comics collection; Dracula: A Classic Pop-Up Tale, a bargain priced pop-up comic book (which was way up in the top fifteen just yesterday); and the pre-order for the latest Big Nate comic compilation.

Dead Watch: Just six Walking Dead compilations this week, with others being pushed out of the top fifty by DC's Kindle editions.

Bat Watch: Eleven Batman titles on the chart this week, helped by Kindle editions of several classic Batman collections.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

After several weeks of bopping around in the top ten, Jeffrey Brown's Darth Vader and Son finally lands in the #1 slot.

The top debut this week is the latest volume of Garth Ennis's The Boys. Also debuting are the fifth Dork Diaries, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm's Trinity, the latest volume of Adam Warren's Empowered, and the final volume of Ouran High School Host Club.

Dead Watch: Just nine Walking Dead collections on the chart this week. But the latest trade collection comes out in a couple of weeks and is already in the #2 position.

Bat Watch: Seven Batman titles on the chart again this week, with DC's well-timed re-release of the Knightfall collections capitalizing on the upcoming Dark Knight Rises film.

Monday, June 04, 2012

Writer and artist Lea Hernandez has been involved in both print and online comics for over twenty-five years. In the print world she is best known for her work on the graphic novels Cathedral Child, Clockwork Angels, Rumble Girls, and Killer Princesses (with Gail Simone). In the world of Webcomics she has published on the site Modern Tales and was the original editor of Girlamatic.

Lea's latest project is The Garlicks, an all-ages story about a vampire family that will be published online and then collected into a print edition. Lea is seeking funding for the project via Kickstarter. She took time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions over email about her new venture:

YACB: Prior to The Garlicks you've written and drawn several other comic projects. What attracts you to comics as a medium for telling stories?

LH: I like to write and draw. Telling stories any other way doesn't satisfy me.

YACB: When you write and draw a comic, what is your creative process like? Do you first produce a written script or an outline? Or do you work from rough notes and/or thumbnails?

LH: It depends. In the case of The Garlicks, it started with a letter I wrote to a friend after I mis-read the name "Gorelick" (Go-REL-ick) as GORE lick. I thought, that's a wonderfully demented name for a vampire, and immediately knew I didn't want to write horror (which Gore Lick demands), I started playing with the name. A short Google search later confirmed that somehow there had never been vampire named The Garlicks. Then I poured out what I was thinking to the friend: the names, motivations and first story were right there.

I write a full script: page layout, panel descriptions, dialogue.
I've tried other ways, but that's the only one that works for me. Since
The Garlicks is also episodic, I keep a file of story ideas to draw on.

After scripting, I do rough layouts in pencil on paper, then import
them into Photoshop, improve them (usually) and then tighten the
pencils. After that, I either print them out and use a light table to
finish the art by hand, or continue to ink and paint digitally. (The vid for my Kickstarter shows this process.)

YACB: You've mentioned that The Garlicks is your first creator-owned graphic novel that you've colored yourself (Lovern Kindzierski previously colored your work on the Hardy Boys graphic novel). Why did you decide to produce The Garlicks in color, and how did you decide on the color palette?

LH: My good friend Adam Warren (Empowered) kept telling me my color work was stronger than my b&w/limited palette/pencils, going back to my story for Comic Book Tattoo, until I took the plunge.

He was right, and I've had so much pleasure in working in color.

YACB: I've noticed a distinct lack of panel borders in the pages for The Garlicks. Was this a conscious decision on your part, or something that happened organically?

LH: I wanted the art to have the feeling of a sketchbook/diary, and went back to some of my previous work that I got the best response to, A comic that I do every few years, Near-Life Experience, which has diary-like art with a freer page structure. It's also the structure that makes me happiest. I suppose that comes through!

YACB: Why did you decide to make your protagonist, Pandora, an aspiring graphic novelist?

LH: I wanted to do a comic in a style that was less grid, more open, which led me to decide it should be someone's notebooks. So, Pandora got the job of being a graphic novelist. I also want to put this aspiration to write and draw stories in the minds of The Garlicks intended audience.

YACB: Why vampires? How do you feel that vampires work as a vehicle for telling stories in general and The Garlicks in particular?

LH: I was ambiguous about vampires. I've liked books that happened to have vampires in them, but I wouldn't choose a read because it had vampires. I didn't tell myself, "No vampires EVER!" I couldn't let The Garlicks idea go once it had me, saturated sub-genre or not. As for The Garlicks, it's useful for showing sibling rivalry and bigotry. And, I like to think, will be a take on vampires that's new. Or new-ish.

YACB: You've stated that you intend for The Garlicks to be targeted towards girls (though any comics reader should be able to enjoy it). What led you to decide to target that demographic with this comic?

LH: I make comics I wanted to read as a kid/teenager. Writing for girls (which is a habit, rather than a targeting move) has the happy side effect of being a small remedy to the problem that there are flat-out not enough comics for girls. I always hope for crossover appeal (and I get it), but I create for girls first.

YACB: What are the elements of The Garlicks that you feel make it 'for girls'? (In both a 'for females' and 'for younger readers' sense.)

LH: A lead who is a girl, for one. She has a relatable problem a lot of girls who are older siblings have: riding herd on the younger ones.

Pandora is cute, but not sexualized, so a girl/woman reading The Garlicks doesn't have to have that feeling of, "You said this was for me, but there's the thing that shows me you didn't have the confidence to not throw in "something for the guys."

There's something wonderful about knowing, as a girl/woman, that something is for you and will always be for you first.

YACB: Are there any creators and/or works (either in comics or other media) that you consider to be inspirations for The Garlicks?

LH: Brianne Drouhard, Brittney Lee, Steven Silver, Lauren Faust, Mike Rohde. The first three are concept artists and character designers with lovely senses on color, weight and line. They're fantastic. The fourth, Lauren Faust, I was a fan of back to Cats Don't Dance, a criminally underrated animated movie. Her take on My Little Pony showed that "girly" had appeal across gender and age, but could remain true to its audience. Mike Rohde invented a method of visual note taking called Sketchnotes. Being inspired by his work after a long, depressing dry spell helped give me a new direction in my comics.

YACB: How have your previous experiences with Webcomics informed how you are producing The Garlicks? Why did you decide to use Kickstarter as a method of funding this latest project?

LH: Webcomics are a proven model in that they are the most frictionless way to get a story to an audience. There's also instant gratification for reader and creator. There's no working in a vacuum, then sending it off, then waiting for it to hit shelves. That can take three or more years, whereas a webcomic can start as soon as a creator has drawn it. No submissions, no delays, no rejection, no waiting a year or two AFTER completion to see a physical book.

I decided to use Kickstarter for two reasons. One: I need a job while I look for regular employment, so I made one. Two: people have responded very well to The Garlicks, and I have had no time to add to the webcomic because I've been trying to cram it in the spaces between commissions, school, job hunting. A funded Kickstarter solves both problems very well for me and my fans.

YACB: Is there anything else that you'd like to tell readers about The Garlicks? Any other projects that you are working on? (Plug away!)

LH: That I won't get to that $40,000 Kickstarter finish line without a LOT of help in the form of backers and supporters! It's not just important to me (but getting a year to work on my next book without worrying about eating or bills is REALLY important), it's important to keep showing that 1) girls DO want comics and 2) everyone wants GOOD comics.

I'm also working on a great graphic novel by Josh Hechinger called The Moon is Mine, about a candy factory on the moon and the giant robot battle to control it. Josh is a talented writer, insanely so, so I'm giving it my best, albeit slowly!

Other than that, not much, because running a Kickstarter takes a LOT of time. I'm going to be writing an article about Kickstarting with Dani O'Brien, writer of All New Issues, about putting together and running a campaign. I'm enjoying myself, because I love challenging projects, but it's also an emotional roller coaster and a lot of stress. Fun, but very very hard.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

A huge surge by Avatar: The Last Airbender comics gives us a new number 1 on the chart as the three volumes of The Last Promise take up three slots in the top ten, including the top debut, part 3 (which doesn't come out until October).

Also debuting this week are Kick-Ass 2, the Kindle edition of the latest Big Nate strip collection, and the color hardcover of the first Scott Pilgrim volume.

Just releasing the title of the next Wimpy Kid book, which doesn't come out until November, gives it a surge into the second slot on the list. Unless something very unusual happens, look for this book to dominate the chart at the end of the year...

Earlier in the week, before the Avatar surge, Jeffrey Brown's Darth Vader and Son was momentarily in the #1 slot.

Dead Watch: There are twelve Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, which is up two from last week.

Bat Watch: There are seven Batman books on the chart this week, same as last (though Morrison's Arkham Asylum takes the place of Morrison's Batman, Inc.).